Wheel-aligning gauge



March 4, 1930. L. G. TA'YLOR 1,749,268

. WHEEL ALIGNING GAUGE Filed April 1927 ATTORNEYS Pie.a ;4;1930 v V 1,749,268

PATENT OFF-ICE 1mm GERMAN TAYLOR, or ALnnN'rowN, PENNSYLVANIA h WHEEL-,ALIGNING GAUGE I I d H I appiicat ma mea u n :6, 1927. Serial n 181,316,

7 a This "invention relates to vehicle wheel frontvvheels 'ofwhich is placed the aligning I align'ersand is concerned particularly Wllih device of this inyention, Whichis particularly the -prfov'isionof a device for" aligning the lllustrated 1n -F1'g.f5, and consists ofa frame Wheels of aut omo b1'1es and like vehicles. "It comprising cross bars ll and 12 Which are is a matter-of common'knowledgethatif the connected together at opposite endsby bra'ck- 55 Mtween the outside surfaces ofthe' fellies of omitted and measuring points 19 tapped a lign gn gging;th'iflly fa h l, I degree of disalignment, amount of toe-in of V, Wheels of; an automobile, for example, are ets 13 and 14, these brackets having upturned not parallelwith respec' tjto each-other; i.e., endsupon Which are pivoted a pair of cross out of; alignment ex'cessive Wear on the tires bars 15 and 16 which are connected together results. Itis, therefor ,impqrtantthat the to forman arm arranged so as to move in {I wheels ofautoniobi lesbe exactalignmentan arcabout members 13 and 14 and in the 0 at alltinies'i'niitder to obviate this' exc'eslongitudinal vertical plane of the frame. 7 V sive-wearing 'of 'th'e tires and also to elimi- The free ends of members 15 and 16 may or natetheadditional stratum the be'ar ingsjr'o-f' may not be vprovided with pivoted members thedisaligned wheel. j 1 i' 17 and 18, respectively, which are movable 16 'Ihe-netv device is -a'dapted to be placed relatively to and'in the planes of the arms beneath either the front *or rearwheels of comprising members 15 and '16. Through the Y a'fve'h'icleso as to accurately centered free ends of members 17 and 18 the measur- V 'thereby in the planevo'f' the hubs ofthe' Wheels, ing points 19 are tapped. As shown in Fig.

and measures the alignmentfof the wheels be- 5, these pivoted members 17 and 18 may be 0 opposite Wheels." 'This particular mannerof through the free ends of members 15 and"16.- measuring the alignment ofvehiole wheels The use of members 17 and l8,'l1OW6VI, is I ig'g r gtg d o itiv gpmit qn o ipreferred inasmuch as their use lends greater cal construction of the Wheel aligning device flexibility of operation to the device, since'by 25 ,andalso allowsbfflexibilityand facility of moving together or spreading apart 5 these operationfwi'th'a amount of labor members the device maybe used to measure andskill, In orderito checkthe alignment the alignment-of wheels oi different diamei th wheels around their entire periphery, ters such as wheels ofsmaller or larger forms v the wheels may beraise'd' from the ground. of automob es. Measuring points 19 are i130 nd, eat d -whi1'e gng d' b flh he 1'- preferably long screws "with pointed tips, l'id g g d 'withoutinteffepene th reby; which may be adjusted longitudinally to r -t d rgtan din'g' ffifihe i v ti n bringthe tips ofboth measuring points of nray'be had y reference to theaccompanyeach side ina plane which is exactly'parallel j fdrawingainwhich-J v t I V .to the corresponding plane of the Wheel to as. 1 ill trates 'sth mmin ofm a qring be measured. The projection of each of these 1 the alignment oi the front wheels of anaum ring points'may "be adjusted at Will to j immobile" mea pgiof the eglig ing' d vi 'bjf allow for the depression of the Wheel felly v v 'ti j v below the edgeofthe tire in theinanner illuss 'hotvs the "measuring-points of the trated in Figs. 2 and 4, and to measure the j *Eigll 3 isflaside vie'w ofa WheelshovVing 'the he 9 t,WheelS,-;andthelike. v ineasu'ifing points of aligner engaging the As 1llustrated in Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive, the

I v I I d v a aligning device'is adapted to be placed trans- E'Fi 4 i a lan-view 'Qfthe m with a versely of the vehicle beneath the Wheels to 1 248 portion at the "wheel broken away,and; j be measured and this may be done by laying Fi ea, perspective view of a'modified' the device'iii front of or behind the wheels formjorfthe-aligneri i and moving thevehicle so that the Wheels are frring tothedravvings, numeralIO-(lee; placed betweenv the Crossbars Hand-12,

ignates generally anfiautomobileor other ve'-, whereby the latter are held in position di {fiQ-hieleqdf@any'iorrn' and design beneath the rectly beneath the axis and hubs of the 7 wheels to be measured. In this manner the the aligning device are adjusted so that the v r Movable members aligner is accurately positioned for use. Prior to being used, points 19 in each end of tips of these points will all engage the same points on opposite wheels if the wheels are properly aligned. While in the position il? lustrated in Fig; l, the pivoted arms at the ends of the device are moved substantially perpendicularly to the planes of the wheels" as indicated by the arrows in Fig. 1 tothe position shown in phantom,="so that the tips of the measuring points 19 engage the outer surfaces of the fellies 21 near the horizontal.

corrected in order to place them in proper,

alignment relatively to each other. Inasmuch as the hinged structures at each side comprising crossed bars 15 and 16 are ac-v curately spaced by cross-bars-ll and '12-'oft the frame theyalwaysmove in a fixed rela tion to each other, so that accuracy of measurement is assured for any position of these hinged structures.

17 and 18,in the free ends of which measuring points 19 are mounted, are adjustable relatively to the frame of the aligning deviceso that they 7 maybe moved in a direction parallelto the plane of the wheel to place the .tips'of; meas uring points '19 opposite the felly of the wheel; 7 The provision of these movable members ,17 and 18 is particularly advantageous, as they lend greater flexibility of wheel.

use to the -device, whereby' it may be'em ployed for the alignment of 'wheelsof, all sizes, but members 17 and 18 may be omitted if the device is to'be used to check the alignment of wheels of uniform size. 1 It is pre ferred that the measuring be done at points on the wheel fellywhich lie approximately;

on the horizontal-axis of the plane of the wheel,as-shown in Fig. 8'. It is apparent that measurement along the horizontal axis of the-wheel will givefthe greatest indication of theplane of any dis-alignment rather-than a similar measurement .on a point either above or below the-horizontal axis of the 'If it is-fdesiredito measure the relative alignment ofthe wheels around their per-iph eryl,.-' the wheels maybejackedup from'the' ground :sufliciently to "permittheirfre'e rotation-,zwhereby the. rotation of the wheels with" the measuring points 19 of the device in contact-:.: with .the-fellies21fwill show whether the vs rheelsare "running true. For

this purpose the wheel jacks may be inserted in the space between cross bars 11 and 12', andcare must be exercised to place cross-bars 11 and 12parallel to the line of the axisof the wheels, as these bars will not be centered by the tires in the manner described above. This proper placement of-thedevice; may be done by inserting it beneath 'the'tires-before acking up the wheels. i

Thenew vehicle wheel aligner accordingly offers many important advantages over those heretofore employed and provides a usefulaccessory which may be readily used in order-tocheck the alignment of the wheels of anautomobile, for example, and especially the alignment of the front wheels, jwithout resortingto. elaborate apparatus 7 or requiring much-labor. The flexibilityin adjustment of the device permits it to beused in measuring;

the alignment of thewheelsof alltypesp cars and trucks and'the fact thatthe measur; J

ingv points are, mountedon pivotal. members permits it to be adjusted to wheels" of all.

widths and; all pitches with 3 respect to each. other and tothe road. Byformingthedevice from commercial metal strap, or bar stock, itmay be economically.manufactured and at the same time will be light in weight and therefore readily handled and usedf," and the hinged relationbetween the frameiand the measuring elements permits, the {latter to be folded down upon .the frame-so as-to make a compact unit'when not inuse'. T V

I claim: 1 f 1. A vehicle wheelaligning device comprise ing a frame to beplaced transversely of and beneath-thewheelsso as 'to be positioned V thereby, arms connected to, saiddframeand i projecting beyond the outer surfaces of the wheels and means on said arms adapted'to lengage diametrically opposite" points on the outer surfaces of the wheels; ;1 j

2, A wheel aligningdevice, comprising "a frameadapted to be placed in thevertical plane of the axes of opposite wheels movable arms pivotally mounted upon opposite ends of the frame so as to be movableto andifrom its I the wheels, andspaced measuringmembers mounted on the armsand' adapted to: engage V the surfaces of the fellies of the; opposite Wheelsf, V, p

-.3; A wheel.aligningdevicecomprisiiig a j frame'adapted to be placed beneath? opposite wheels and parallel to ,the-axesqthereof, arm's pivoted at the endsof the frame, said arms being s'wingable in a plane'substantially per pendicular to the'plane of-thewheels, and" members on each of said armsadapted to; en:

gageHcorresponding opposite points onthe I25,

outside surfaces. of the "same "wheel fellies.

4. A 'wheel aligning device comprising a frame adapted to be placed: beneatliopposite wheels and parallel tothe axes-thereof; arins pivoted at the E ends of the frame-,; said arms being swingable in' a plane substantialllyaper 30 sition-by being held between opposite wheels 'and the ground, an arm mounted at each end "pendicular to the plane of the wheels, members mounted on said arms and movable relatively .to the arms in a direction substantially parallel to the plane of the wheels, said members'having portions adapted to engage the outside surfaces of'the wheel fellies.

5. A wheel aligning device comprising a frame adapted to be placed beneath opposite wheels and parallel to the axes of rotation thereof, arms pivoted at the ends of the frame,

said arms being swingable in a plane substan- I tially perpendicular to the plane of the A wheels, and a pair of members on each of said arms adapted to engage the outside surfaces ofethe'wheel fellies at substantially diametrically opposite points. 7

, 6. A wheel alignin device comprising a frameadapted to be p aced beneath opposite f wheels and parallel to the axes of rotation to engage the outside'surfaces of the same 7 .wheel felly at diametrically opposite points at approximately the horizontal center line of the wheel;

.7. A wheel aligning device comprising a frame adapted to be centered in operative p0.-

of the frame, by movement to and from the corresponding wheel, and a pair of spaced measuring points on each arm, adapted to engage diametrically opposite points on the r surfaces of the wheels.

8." A vehiclewheel aligningdevice compris- 7 ing a'frame adapted to be positioned by being 7 held between opposite wheels and-the ground, a plurality of spaced measuring means adapt:

ed to engage different points on the surfaces of the opposite wheels, means pivotally mounting said first means at each end of the frame, said'first means beingiadjustable relatively I faces of the wheels.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

- LLOYD GEHMAN TAYLOR.

so i

to each other with, respect to the'sur- I 

